Longitudinal changes in psychological distress in the UK from 2019 to September 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic: evidence from a large nationally representative study

Publication type

Journal Article

Authors

Publication date

January 14, 2021

Summary:

In a large (n =10918), national, longitudinal probability-based sample of UK adults the prevalence of clinically significant psychological distress rose from prepandemic levels of 20.8% in 2019 to 29.5% in April 2020 and then declined significantly to prepandemic levels by September (20.8%). Longitudinal analyses showed that all demographic groups examined (age, sex, race/ethnicity, income) experienced increases in distress after the onset of the pandemic followed by significant decreases. By September 2020 distress levels were indistinguishable from prepandemic levels for all groups. This recovery may reflect the influence of the easing of restrictions and adaptation to the demands of the pandemic.

Published in

PsyArXiv

DOI

https://doi.org/10.31234/osf.io/mjg72

Subjects

Notes

Open Access preprint

Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International Public License


Related Publications

#526544

News

Latest findings, new research

Publications search

Search all research by subject and author

Podcasts

Researchers discuss their findings and what they mean for society

Projects

Background and context, methods and data, aims and outputs

Events

Conferences, seminars and workshops

Survey methodology

Specialist research, practice and study

Taking the long view

ISER's annual report

Themes

Key research themes and areas of interest